When they had received the distress call, a guilty thrill had shot down his spine. Maybe some sort of Klingon attack was involved—all right, he probably shouldn't be wishing for that. Still, the Enterprise had just begun its first year of exploration and Jim Kirk couldn't wait to get his hands dirty with rescue missions and planetary "research" parties. The air quotes were for his first officer's benefit, because really, when did they ever beam down to a planet and just do research? Action had always seemed to follow Jim like the plague, and now too, the Enterprise.
The tourist vessel—that never should've taken off in the first place, according to Scotty; something about not being space-ready—had been dead weight in space for hours before the Enterprise rescued its crew and passengers.
And soon, what had started as a thrilling rescue mission turned into a swamped Enterprise and a dull sorting task. Even at warp, Earth was a few days away, and every rescued being needed a place to stay during the in between.
Tedious.
Jim heaved a sigh as he made his way down the hall. At least it hadn't been an attack, or Bones would be up to his elbows in medbay right about now. Yeah, a burnt out core was preferable to a dozen or more casualties any way.
So, maybe a little tedium wasn't so bad.
And the sooner they got these tourists back to Earth, the sooner they could get back on track with their jaunt through space. There was a particularly interesting-looking planet Jim had spied right before they got that call…
After a long day of sorting out passengers and sleeping arrangements with Spock and Uhura, Jim was looking forward to kicking his feet up in his quarters. Maybe he'd call Bones over and they could crack open that bottle of scotch.
He had certainly not expected to come across a very lost, very alone little girl on his way.
A captain's work is never done, the annoying part of him whispered. The devilish part of him briefly wondered if it was too late to skirt back around the corner and take the long way back.
A pair of the cutest brown eyes turned to gaze up at him.
Yep. Definitely too late.
He offered a slight wave. "Hello there."
"Hi," came the shy response, and before Jim could even start to form his next question, she cocked her head to the side. "Are you the captain?"
A small smile tugged at Jim's face. "How'd you guess?"
"You sorta look like you're in charge. Besides, I remember you greeted me and my mama when we came here."
Ah. Dozens of groups had come through the transporter that morning. A sea of nameless faces that he hadn't yet begun to learn.
"Right, uh… Where's your Mama now?"
A shrug. "I dunno. I lost her."
Right.
"I thought she was going this way, but I guess she went that way, and now I can't find her."
"Well," Jim began, doing his best to swallow a sigh, "how about I try to help you find her? She's probably worried sick about you."
"I guess."
Jim felt something deep within him pinch at the sound of her nonchalance. He'd heard that nonchalance before, had felt that sense of not caring.
The not caring that was meant to cover the hope that someday, somehow, someone would care…
Knock it off. You're getting carried.
Maybe it's different.
Yeah. It has to be different.
"Well, let's start off with names. I'm Captain Kirk." He flashed her a reassuring smile, even though she didn't appear to be the least bit distraught over apparently being lost. "But you can call me Jim."
She stuck a little hand upwards, which Jim dutifully shook. "My friends call me Jo, so you can, too. You seem nice."
"Right, Jo, thank you, but I really need to know your full—"
"Captain." The unexpected, yet familiar voice nearly startled him out of his skin. Honestly, Jim hadn't heard him walk up…
"Spock! You're just the man I wanted to see."
"Am I?"
"Yes." He waved his friend over. "Maybe you'll be better at solving this problem than I am. This is Jo."
Spock's gaze took a quick sweep around the room, hesitating only a second on Jo before landing on Jim again. "And she is… a problem?"
"No, no! Well, I mean, yes, but…" At the sight of Jo's suddenly sad eyes, he leaned closer to Spock. "She's one of the rescued tourists, but I can't figure out who she belongs to," Jim explained under his breath, all the while flashing the small girl his most winning smile.
With a brief nod, he passed the torch to his second-in-command, who now stared down at Jo.
"What is your last name? That information is crucial to locating your family."
"I don't know how to say my last name," the girl said, her tiny brows furrowing at the mere mention of it. "It's too hard, and Mama keeps changing it, anyway. The only one I remember is Burbank. That was the first one, I think…"
"That's most illogical. Why would someone repeatedly change their last name?"
"To keep daddy away." Jo shrugged. "That's what she told me. But daddy's nice. Nicer than Mama, I think. Why does she want to keep him away?"
Jim just shook his head. When he'd compiled his to-do list that morning, discussing the complexities of relationships with a seven-year-old—or whatever—hadn't even made the top ten.
"Let's try this," he began, taking back the reins as Spock looked to be in the process of giving himself an ulcer trying to sort out the implications of Jo's statements. "What's your mama's name? My first officer here can try to look her up. If we can look up her room number, I'm sure we can find her."
Jo's shrug was beyond helpful—Sarcasm, Spock. That's a little thing humans call sarcasm—but that hauntingly familiar nonchalance shut out Jim's rising irritation.
"I heard daddy call her Jocelyn, but I just call her Mama."
And hell if that name didn't sound like one he'd heard before…
"All right, well, maybe your daddy knows where she is. Maybe he can help us find her."
But the girl was already shaking her head. "He doesn't know where my Mama is. He's in space!"
"Ah." Jim shared a so much for that glance with Spock before turning back to Jo and squatting down to her level.
"He said he's gonna bring me back the moon! Or maybe a planet, if he finds one as pretty as I am, he said."
"Highly illogical," Spock began, only to amend his words after a slight suggestion from Jim—a.k.a. a jab to the shin. "But no less thrilling. I'm sure he will bring you back something nice."
Her bright smile made the exasperation worth it—somewhat. It didn't change the fact that Jim was still stuck with a shadow that seemed to have no place.
Had he been this oblivious as a kid?
"I'm pretty sure I knew my last name at her age," he whispered to Spock after standing up again.
"I knew my entire family tree and history," came the reply that, by all accounts, Jim should've expected.
"Of course, you did. Well," he said, clapping his hands together, "Jo, it looks like you're stuck with us until we find your mom."
Her eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. "You mean I get to help you with captain stuff?"
"Uh, well, sort of. Come on." She wasted no time in slipping her small palm into his outstretched hand. "We were just about to get a snack in the mess."
"Were we, Captain?"
Ignoring Spock, Jim winked at the child. "I'd be honored if you'd join us."
"I love snacks!"
Jim grinned. "I thought you might."
They hadn't strolled ten feet, Jo skipping along between her two heroes, when she gasped and glanced up at Jim.
"Can you give me a tour of the ship?"
"Uh…" Shooting Spock a quick glance—one that was returned with a slight raise of the brow—Jim shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"
An abbreviated one, sure.
"Right now, we're passing crew lodgings, and up ahead, we have the conference room."
"Can we go in?"
"Nah." Jim scrunched up his nose and whispered down to her just loud enough for Spock to hear, "It's boring in there."
The honestly, Captain look he got for that one was way too worth it and Jim couldn't help but smirk.
"I'm sure I won't think it's boring."
"I'm sure you will. Come on, there are cooler things to see than a silly old conference room. Like, uh… Oh!" With a snap of his fingers, Jim pulled the child over to a pair of large sliding doors. "Like the medbay! It's not always fun in there—actually, most times it's not fun in there—but it is pretty cool. And maybe we can get my friend Bones to join us for a snack. Like a party or something."
"Captain, I fail to see how a mere four people can make up a party."
Jim glanced at Spock as the doors slid open with a whoosh. "It'll be a small, intimate party, not one of those crazy cocktail parties."
Another cocked brow was all the reply he received, which was just as well, because they hadn't gone five feet into medbay when Jim felt the tiny hand slip away from his.
The half a second it took for the reactionary part of his brain to jumpstart gave the girl a hefty head start. "Wait, Jo, come back! Spock!" Do something!
Instead of joining his sprint, however, his second held him back, pulling Jim to a halt before he'd even begun.
"Wait, Captain…"
Jim tried shoving the Vulcan's arm away, but to no avail. "Spock, what—?"
Spock merely nodded at the scene, one Jim nearly missed for all his hurry to get Jo back.
"Daddy! Daddy!" The little girl shouted as she ran, driving her small black shoes through the organized chaos of medbay. "Daddy!"
He saw Bones glance up from his work with Christine, brows furrowed as he turned.
The minute his gaze landed on Jo is one Jim still wishes to this day he'd gotten on camera.
The brightest light flashed across the CMO's face, an almost disbelieving joy like that of a child who got their deepest, biggest wish for Christmas. He caught her as she dashed into his arms, swinging her around before holding her close.
"Joanna! Baby, how on Earth—?"
"Daddy!" Jo practically screamed. "You're here! I told them you were out in space and you are! You're here, you're here!"
As Bones buried his now tear-stained face in the girl's neck, Jim felt like the man who'd completely missed the sun because he was too busy waiting for the moon to come up.
Joanna. He didn't even bother to stop his hand as it gave his face a good smack. Of course!
"Jo, Joanna! Of course!" He muttered. "I'm such an idiot!"
The expected comeback from Spock fell flat in the wake of the Vulcan's own surprise. "I…" He took a brief pause, during which he glanced sidelong at Jim, the how did I not know about this written plain as day on his tight features. "Considering the somewhat strenuous nature of our… relationship… I suppose it's no wonder I was not aware Doctor McCoy had a daughter."
"Oh," Jim nodded, doing nothing to hide his smirk, "of course. It's only logical."
Spock opened his mouth to reply, but Jim was already heading toward the merry reunion. He caught sight of a few unshed tears glazing Christine's eyes, her smile bright enough to light the whole Enterprise for a week. As bright as it shone, it was nothing compared to Bones and Joanna's.
"I was wondering who she belonged to," Jim said at last, his own grin so wide it was beginning to hurt his cheeks.
Bones finally glanced in his direction, a quick hand swiping at glassy eyes before curling around Joanna's shoulders.
"Jim, how…" He shook his head, his expression still reeling with disbelief. "Where did she come from? How did you…?"
"I found her wandering alone in the halls. I was just giving her a tour of the ship. Right, Jo?" The girl nodded, smiling at Jim before snuggling close to her father. "She's one of the rescued tourists."
The smile faltered for a brief moment as calculations too fast even for Spock flashed across the doctor's dark orbs.
"Right," he said, sucking in a breath. "That means she's here."
Jim blinked, the words taking a second longer than he would've liked to sink in.
Suddenly, the "Mama" they'd been searching for now had a face, a name, and a rotten personality. Of course, Jim hadn't actually met Jocelyn before, however, the stories and comments he'd heard about her from Bones had painted the mental image of a witch hunched over a cauldron.
Which, he was sure wasn't the case at all. Maybe. Still… a witch's face was better than nothing.
"The wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce."
Oh. Right.
Maybe this wasn't going to be a dull trek back to Earth after all.